How to Know if Your Dog is Really A Werewolf

While the werewolf may be a figment of our imaginations, they are wolves nonetheless. So it makes sense to mention the werewolf on a blog about dogs during the spookiest month of the year.

With their superhuman strength and canine senses, werewolves embodiment of both man and beast. In fact, even the name “werewolf” comes from the root “wer” meaning male man, and wolf.

Stories of the werewolf date back as far as the written word. In the original stories, which can be found in ancient Romanian and Greek pieces, the werewolf was able to change form at will. Modern pieces, such as Teenage Werewolf, Little Red Riding Hood, and Twilight have distorted character and appearance the traditional werewolf, however there are some similarities that are commonly carried from story to story. These similarities include the following, agreed upon features of a werewolf.

How To Spot A Werewolf

• Born on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (considered a divine punishment for competing with Christ's birthday according to legend)
• Red Hair
• Unibrow
• Index and middle finger are the same length
• Appetite for raw meat
• Insatiable thirst for water
• Hair on the palms of the hand
• Strange sleeping habits and the tendency to restlessly circle around the bed before laying down
• Changes back to a human if a piece of iron or steel is thrown overhead in animal form

What can we learn from vigilantly scouting for a thirsty, raw-meat-eating human? Well, probably nothing, but you may never be able to look at a red-head with a unibrow the same again. And if you dog was born on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you may not want to throw iron at them, because they might turn into something a little more scary than the hairy Michael J Fox in Teen Wolf.

Putting Your Pet First: A practical and ideological view of pet care and medicine

It’doesn’t take a doctor to know this, but we’re glad he said it anyway: “It is good to love a pet and be loved by a pet.”

Dr. John Sleasman discusses this bond between dog and owner in his book Putting Your Pet First: A Veterinarian’s Perspective.  As not only a veterinarian, but a lover of pets as well, Dr. Sleasman demonstrates his compassion for pets and their owners, as illustrated in a variety of short stories in his book about his patients, including an anecdote about crafting a new bill out of acrylic for “Goosey Gander” and fitting “Momma Dog” with corrective glasses following cataract surgery.

In short, Putting Your Pet First tells the story of John Sleasman’s journey to veterinarian practice, the evolution of his practice and the advances in veterinarian medicine over the last 40 years. Along with being informative, his patient stories are guaranteed to make you laugh. His compassion for, and commitment to animal welfare are threads that run throughout the book, as well as the recurrent theme of the human-pet relationship and the importance of veterinarian care for the family pet. Dr. Sleasman’s intelligence and ingenuity in crafting treatments for animals will make you chuckle as well as give you a deep sense of respect for the thoughtful and  innovative care he has provided for his patients and their owners.

The book begins with the story of how John developed a love for animals while living the farm life as a child on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State in the late 1940s where animals were seen as purposeful, having an economic value, and not as pets. Eventually, a family pet arrived and Blackie, a crow, became John’s first pet. He then tells of the variety of animals they had on the farm and ultimately, of the situation that led him to become a veterinarian: when his horse “What Do’s” labor went wrong and required John to provide her with daily treatments in order to save her life.

Woven between hilarious and heartwarming stories of Dr. Sleasman’s patients, he describes a variety of changes in the pet care industry, beginning with the one veterinarian who could “do it all” and concluding with the current, highly specialized--yet fragmented--veterinarian medicine. Dr. Sleasman draws his book to a close with extremely valuable advice for navigating veterinary care, especially in an age of high pressures of corporate veterinary medicine, where trust may often be eroded in the face of escalating tests and fees.

Anyone who has a pet and has sought medical consultation or treatment from a veterinarian will find this book entertaining and informative. We truly appreciate the unique, educated and compassionate approach Dr. Sleasman has brought to veterinary care and are thankful for this book that is both informative and hilarious.

The book can be found on Amazon under the title Putting Your Pet First.

Adventure Dogs and their Humans: Established in 1915

When you hit a trail with your furry friend, or play fetch in a park, do you ever wonder who has gone before you and been captivated by this very same place?

How many a hikers have enjoyed a hike up to this same peak, to look out at the splendor beyond? And how many paws have trekked through on this wanderlust before your canine?

These are the questions we ponder as we make our ascent up the trail. We decided to look and see just who was the first to share outdoor adventures like these with their pup, a tradition that would be fufilled by people and their furry adventurers for years to come!

The Gehrke Family: America's first canine-accompanied outdoor adventurers

Pictures of the Gehrke family from pbs.com

In 1915, a childless couple from Nebraska, Margaret and Edward Gehrke, decided that they were going to make a lifestyle of going to the places that were popularly loved by others. More specifically, they acted on their dream to travel to all National Parks in the United States, with their beloved furry canine companions in tow.

Margaret, a former school teacher, was a lover of books. Edward was a fishing enthusiast and dog lover who enjoyed photographing their adventures together. The life they had envisioned evolved as they began to make a beautiful life despite it being one without bearing children. With their furry children in tow, they made an intentional effort to visit all of the United States National Parks (18 in total at the time).

Their love of the the parks initially began as they were traveling home via train from a trip to San Francisco. They stopped to see the Grand Canyon, and it was then that the splendor of the parks would captivate their hearts. Initially they traveled by train, but eventually their signature traveling method would be made possible by the Buicks--17 of them in all--which would end up navigating their journeys. Each summer, they faithfully chose a park until they eventually reached their goal and saw all 18.

Margaret kept a journal, and made an entry of their adventures every single day, while Edward photographed all of their excursions. One particularly notable trip was documented in the piece "To A Dog" and devoted to their beloved furry canine companion Barney, who made the 7,000 mile journey in the Buick as they traveled to parks out west.

In the 1930’s, Edward began working on a traveling house to take to their next park adventure. Sadly, he died in 1939 before the “house-car” was ever driven to a National Park. He was 58. Margaret survived her husband for another 40 years. In her years following Edward’s death, Margaret continued to visit the parks, often with her furry companions by her side. The last park she visited was the couple's favorite park, Rocky Mountain National Park. Today, the photographs and the journals can be seen at the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Next time you go on a National Park excursion, don’t forget to give pause, and think of all the people and furry companions that have found splendor and comfort in the very same place. The mountains are calling you too, to greet them with two boots, and when possible, four paws.